I think I am finished with this one. It's not perfect, but I'm tired of working on it, so I will call it finished anyway! ;)
Here's a detail of her face:
I am really proud of this one. And I broke a rule on this one too - I used Payne's Gray for the background so I didn't mix my own black. It just seemed like the background needed to be really, really a solid color of black, so I went with my gut on it.
Last night one of the artists in the group told me I couldn't paint this because I was infringing copyright. That had never even occurred to me, since I am painting this for my own personal enjoyment. So I did a little research online today, and am scratching my head cause I still can't figure it out. There appears to have been some lawsuits and it appears the images are in the public domain. But then there is an article about some group obtaining the rights to the Marilyn Monroe brand. Does that include photos? I don't know. I did however find a web site (The morgue) that has copyright free images of Marilyn Monroe. So I will be working from those from now on to be safe. If anyone has a more definitive answer on this, please enlighten me!
Today I was reflecting on my artwork. I went back and looked at my posts. I made an attempt, a blind one, at starting back painting in 2010. I did a few paintings and then abandoned the whole effort, mainly I think because I was so disappointed with my work. I made a really weak effort to paint in 2012, only doing a couple of paintings. Then this past summer, the art bug woke me back up and I started painting more. At first I attempted portraits that were waaaay out of my skill level. I kept going because I was in the art group with Marilyn Wannamaker, so was painting once a week with the group. But it wasn't until I took Sue Foell's still life class that my painting started to mature. Learning how to create shadows was huge for me. That was a turning point in my painting. Before that, I don't know what I was doing for shadow - I think I was mixing black with the colors. Following Sue's class I started getting serious about my painting and started doing a painting a day starting in November. Two months of tiny portraits has really paid off. I am starting to see improvement in my work. It's still not where I want it to be, and I don't think I've reached my potential. But I think I'm on the right track. Now that I'm taking Sue's portrait class, I am anticipating some real growth in my portraits. Plus doing the live painting of models I think will really help me grow. So I think it's good to go back and look at where I've been, and assess my progress. I don't really think that painting is so much a talent, as it is a skill. I think that anyone can learn to draw and paint if they put their mind to it, educate themselves, and then practice, practice, practice. But you have to have a passion for it, and really want to do it.
Future goals: for now, the portrait class is my main focus, learning from Sue. It's great that I can take her class and glean a great deal of what she's learned over her many years of painting. After her class, I plan to revisit basic drawing. I have made my way through some of Betty Edwards book, Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain: The Definitive, 4th Edition, but I need to get all the way through it. It is an amazing book. Also Ann Enoch inspired me last night to do a self portrait. I am afraid to do one, but know that it will be important to help me grow. And then Tim Minshew, one of the artists I met last night, told me about a week long portrait class with Mary Minifie that's coming up at Hutchison. It's pricy - $675 for a week, but it looks like an amazing workshop with a great artist. So lots of goals!
Oh and one more side note - the check came from I.O. Metro for my abstract, so I now have officially made a little money from my art!
